Cambridge fire witness: 'It was like an explosion'

Saturday

Vendol Ryan was in his home on Vandine Street with his two children on Saturday, Dec. 3, when he thought he smelled smoke.

He dashed to the kitchen, thinking somehow a pot had been left on the stove. Seeing nothing, but still curious, he walked outside.

In an interview with the Chronicle while he watched from behind police tape as firefighters labored to save his neighborhood, Ryan told what happened next.

"I literally watched the house collapse," he said. "There were flames everywhere. The building just collapsed. Boom."

How to help those affected by the blazeFocus shifts to helping victims of 10-alarm fire

The building just a few doors down from his home was fully engulfed in flames.

"It was like an explosion," he said.

Ryan he raced back inside to collect his children, ages 8 and 11.

"They were crying and screaming. They were really scared," he said. "There was no visibility, you couldn't breathe."

As he bundled his children into the car, he saw neighbors frantically trying to escape, too.

"Terrifying isn't even the word," he said, when asked to describe the scene.

Around the same time Bristol Street resident Torgun Austin was at home with her dog.

"I heard a big bang and I looked out my window and I saw this big black ball of smoke go out of the house down the block," she told the Chronicle. "Then all Hell broke loose."

The sound of sirens filled her street as 150 firefighters from 17 different departments around the Boston area flooded in to battle the blaze, which damaged or destroyed at least 11 buildings.

When police moved to evacuate the neighborhood, Austin got a glimpse of the blaze.

"It wasn't a pretty sight," she said, with flames towering into the air.

The last Ryan had heard from neighbors who had been back to retrieve pets, their houses were safe. Most of their neighbors were, too - Fire Chief Gerald Reardon told the Chronicle only five or six people were injured in the blaze, and none were hospitalized. Three of the injured were first responders.

With Ryan's home too close to the fire to return to, he, his wife and children said they plan to stay with friends from their church for the time being. Offers of help had flooded in from all corners, though. One of his coworkers even offered the whole family a weekend getaway at his house on the Rhode Island shore.

If you would like to help victims of the Berkshire Street fire, the city of Cambridge has set up a special fund, called the Mayor's Fire Relief Fund, which aims to collect $200,000 to help displaced residents with a variety of expenses. Donations can be made via GoFundMe or by mailing a check made out to the Mayor's Fire Relief Fund, Cambridge City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge MA, 02139.